Why Did I Receive Dividends for Shares I No Longer Own?

Is it possible to receive dividends for shares I do not own anymore? I have been buying and selling stocks for about a year. When reviewing my broker statements, I noticed that I received some dividend payments earlier this year, which was obviously a nice surprise. The funny thing is, I sold those stocks before the dividend payments were made.

Could it be a clerical error on the part of my broker? I would hate to withdraw that money and then have to pay it back if it turns out to be an error.

Am I missing something?

Hi there,

It is possible that you owned the shares on the record date, and then sold the shares before the payable date.

If you own a share on its record date, you are entitled to receive that year's dividend for that share. Even if you sell the share immediately after this date, you will still receive the dividend.

Depending on the company which issued the share, the country in which that company is, the broker through which you bought and sold the share and the custodian bank which held the share on your behalf, it can take some time before the dividend payment makes its way to your brokerage account.

If your account statements show a period of several days to several weeks between the sale of the shares and the receipt of the dividends, then this is most likely what happened. If not, consider contacting your broker and asking them directly.

Best regards from Moneyguru